


Super High School Level Misunderstanding

by strawberrylemonade1225



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Fluff, Happy Ending, Humor, M/M, Miscommunication, Oblivious, Requited Love, a tiny bit of angst, but its all good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:02:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24818809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrylemonade1225/pseuds/strawberrylemonade1225
Summary: One day, Kiyotaka Ishimaru refers to Mondo Oowada as his boyfriend. Here's the thing, though: they're not dating. Surely Kiyotaka couldn't have meant it as "boyfriend" but "boy friend"... right?
Relationships: Ishimaru Kiyotaka/Oowada Mondo
Comments: 15
Kudos: 454





	Super High School Level Misunderstanding

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys welcome to 5,000 words of mondo oowada being a HUGE simp for the hall monitor

One day, Kiyotaka referred to Mondo as his boyfriend.

Mondo was in Kiyotaka’s room, sitting on his bed with his back to the headboard, skimming through a chapter in a mathematics textbook for what felt like the hundredth time. He was making a hopeless attempt to study, encouraged by Kiyotaka. They were about midway through their  _ super  _ exciting study session when Kiyotaka’s phone began ringing.

“Oh!” Kiyotaka had exclaimed, startling out of his intense focus. He had been sitting at his desk, his side facing Mondo, and Mondo began to wonder if the reason why he just couldn’t seem to be able to absorb the paragraph was because he had been too busy staring at Kiyotaka over the top of the textbook. Thinking this, he hunched up his shoulders and quite literally shoved his nose into the book, face flushed a light pink. “Do you mind if I take this call?”

“It’s your phone, go ahead,” Mondo just responded, voice stilted.

Kiyotaka sent over a smile, one of his huge toothy grins, effectively renewing the blush in Mondo’s face. He opened his phone (a flip phone) and took the call, pressing it to his ear. With the way he turned away, Mondo assumed that he was trying to be a little more quiet, but he still spoke in his loud tone, so there was barely a change.

“Hello? Oh, hi, father!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, and he seemed to brighten up a bit. Mondo knew he should probably try to get back to reading the textbook, but now all of his focus was on Kiyotaka. At least he couldn’t see the stupid heart eyes Mondo was surely giving him. “You wanted to go over the plans for this weekend?”

Oh, right. Mondo was going to spend the weekend over Kiyotaka’s house. He was going to meet his father, but, considering the fact he was a police officer, Mondo’s sure he met him before. He only had to hope that he  _ somehow  _ didn’t recognize him.

You know, didn’t recognize Mondo Oowada. The leader of the Crazy Diamonds, one of the largest gangs in Japan. The guy known for punching telephone poles out of rage. The guy who has been to juvie more times than he could count.

He was sure this would go great.

Tuning back in, he heard the tail end of one of Kiyotaka’s sentences. “Yes, you’ll be meeting my boyfriend! He’s been very excited over this meeting the past week!”

Oh, okay-

Wait.

_ Boyfriend?! _

Mondo sat up straight, eyes blown wide. The bed creaked under the sudden shift of weight, but Kiyotaka didn’t pay any attention to the sound, still chattering away on the phone. He was completely oblivious to Mondo’s internal turmoil.

_ Kiyotaka has a boyfriend and he  _ never _ told me?! _

Oh God, oh fuck, well that really sucks, doesn’t it? Mondo was in here, staring at his best friend, his bro, with a lovestruck expression while he was a taken man? That’s not okay at all-  _ and who is his boyfriend, why isn’t it me? _ Mondo needed to know  _ right now _ who his boyfriend was and how he managed to win over Kiyotaka and what  _ Mondo _ would need to do in order to win Kiyotaka over.

He leaned closer, listening intently.  _ Name drop the motherfucker, Taka. _

“Mondo  _ has  _ changed. He wouldn’t be my boyfriend if he hasn’t!” Kiyotaka laughed his loud yet adorable laugh and, despite his shock, Mondo still found himself reacting with a fierce blush that overtook-

_ I’M THE BOYFRIEND? _

Mondo fell off the bed with the sudden motion of him jolting up. He landed on the floor with a loud thump, just barely managing to keep his head from hitting the floor. This sound roused recognition from Kiyotaka, him turning in the desk chair and standing up in shock. “Uh, I have to go! I’ll call you back!”

Kiyotaka flipped the phone shut and placed it on the desk, rushing over to Mondo. He offered him a hand and Mondo just stared at it in shock for a few moments before taking it and rising to his feet. Kiyotaka didn’t let go of his hand immediately, and every bit of focus in Mondo’s mind paid attention to Kiyotaka’s smaller, soft hand in his roughed up hand and his face went red once again.

“What happened, are you okay?” Kiyotaka practically shouted in his face, and all Mondo could do was respond how he always does when he’s nervous.

Shout. 

“ _ Boyfriend?” _ Is all he managed to say, and Kiyotaka blinked at him a few times before he startled himself and ended up letting go of Mondo’s hand.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! Was it okay for me to refer to you like that with my father?”

Mondo paused for a second as he tried to grab his bearings on everything and suddenly the reason was clear to him.

Kiyotaka most likely didn’t mean it the way it sounded. Maybe Leon played some kind of prank on him and said that boyfriend had a second meaning, like a very close friend? Maybe Kiyotaka didn’t know the way that word sounded, or something. Maybe he meant it as “boy friend” and not boyfriend.

Yeah, that had to be it. After all, Mondo was  _ pretty  _ sure he’d know if they had started dating.

“Yeah, no, ‘s fine, just shocked me a little!” Mondo reassures, waving his hands. His face was still burning, and Kiyotaka’s face seemed to reflect that blush. He grins again, and Mondo fixates for a moment on the gap between his teeth and their slight crookedness before shaking his head and meeting his eyes again. 

“You’re okay with that?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Does that mean I can call you that to- to everyone?”

Mondo knew that that would cause rumors of them to circulate, but honestly, if calling him his boy friend every now and then made Kiyotaka smile like this, he couldn’t refuse. He was wrapped around Kiyotaka’s finger and he knew it. Even Leon called him whipped sometimes, and each one of those times, Mondo had threatened to beat the shit out of Leon but had never disagreed.

“Yeah, sure, go ahead,” Mondo responded, following the curve of his smile with his eyes. He hoped Kiyotaka didn’t think it was weird or maybe picked up on Mondo’s obvious crush. At least Kiyotaka was dreadfully oblivious; he was sure he wouldn’t pick up on what Mondo’s lingering stares truly meant.

“Ah, thank you so much!” Kiyotaka exclaimed, grabbing Mondo’s hand with both of his own, and Mondo’s mind focused intently on that when he spoke.

“Yeah, sure, it’s nothing…”

***

One day, Kiyotaka kissed Mondo’s cheek.

Actually, Kiyotaka did a lot of different things that day.

On Kiyotaka’s birthday before returning to school, Mondo surprised him in the morning at his front door step. In his hand is his helmet that Kiyotaka forced him to wear whenever they ride together, and in his other hand is a wrapped present. His hair lay in damaged curls around his face, his pompadour not even coming close to fitting in the helmet. Sure, having to go without his iconic hairstyle was annoying sometimes, and sometimes his gang liked to poke fun at him, but all he had to do was say that Kiyotaka made him do it and they shut up.

(He had introduced Kiyotaka to his gang and they  _ loved  _ him. Mondo had joked and said that he acted like the mom of the gang and Kiyotaka had responded with a smile and a joke of his own, saying he was okay with that if it meant that Mondo was the dad of the group. Mondo flushed red and never mentioned it again after, simply just repeating those words in his head over and over again.)

((His gang had, once again, made fun of him for that.))

(((At least their teasing didn’t compare to the teasing he received from his horrible brother at home.)))

Before he got to knock on the door a second time, it swung open to reveal a slightly ruffled looking Kiyotaka. He was wearing a sleeping shirt and flannel pajama pants, his short hair a little messy. He was slowly blinking the sleep out of his eyes and Mondo couldn’t help the soft smile that curved his lips. By God, he was  _ adorable. _

“Mondo?” He asked, voice thick with sleep. “What are you doing here? It’s five in the morning.”   
  


“I’ve got presents for you,” he answered, and could practically see the cogs turning in Kiyotaka’s head. Kiyotaka had a tough relationship with presents, always feeling like he didn’t quite deserve them. Before he could think too hard about it, Mondo put his helmet on the ground and ruffled Kiyotaka’s hair gently, almost petting him. “I wanted to, bro, I’ll be sad if you don’t take ‘em.”

That spurred Kiyotaka into action, taking the present and inviting Mondo inside. They softly padded up to Kiyotaka’s room, making sure to not disturb his father who had fallen asleep on the couch the night before.

(The meeting had gone surprisingly well. There was idle chatter between the three of them and when Kiyotaka had left the room to go to the bathroom, Takaaki had looked at Mondo and offered him a small smile. “While I don’t approve of what you do, I can see that you really make Kiyotaka happy, and that’s what matters to me. Keep making my boy happy and we won’t have an issue, okay?”)

When they got to his room, Kiyotaka shoved a scuffed up sneaker in between his door and the door way to make a door stop, wanting to try to close his door as much as he could to make their voices quieter but not wanting to break one of his father’s rules. Mondo simply shook his head, overly fond, sitting on the edge of his bed. Kiyotaka soon joined him.

He began opening his present, and paused when he fully unwrapped it.

“A helmet?” He asked, voice soft, and Mondo’s leg bounced nervously. 

“Yeah, it’s… it’s, um, custom. ‘M not the best at art shit-  _ stuff _ , but I… yeah. It’s okay if you don’t like it.”

While he was speaking, Kiyotaka was turning the helmet in his hands, looking at it. The base was a deep red and it had multiple golden accents all along it in swirling patterns and flowers. It was a little wobbly, but in thin white paint strokes, Mondo had written the kanji for Kiyotaka’s first name on the back of the helmet, little golden stars on the edges.

“Um, yeah, like I said, it freakin’ sucks-” Censoring his cursing.  _ Shit. _ Leon was right, he was whipped. “- so I don’t care if you just toss it or-”

Things happened so fast then. Kiyotaka dropped the helmet on his bed, getting on his knees on his bed and leaning forward, wrapping his arms around Mondo in a hug, holding him tightly. Kiyotaka buried his face in the crook of his neck and Mondo reacted quickly despite his shock, gently wrapping his arms around his waist. When he felt tears bleeding into his collar, he got a bit concerned.

“Ya don’t have to cry over how ugly-”   
  


“It’s  _ not  _ ugly!”

Kiyotaka’s proclamation stunned him a bit as he pulled back, practically nose to nose with him. His cheeks and nose were reddened already, tears streaming down his face. His eyebrows were softened from their usual harsh furrow and he had a small pout on his face before it dissolved into a smile.

“I love it so much, Mondo! It’s so beautiful and you’re so good at art! Stop denying your talent!” Kiyotaka finally leaned back, but not far, knees touching his thigh, and part of his attention highlighted that point of contact. Kiyotaka picked up the helmet and turned it in his hands. Then, he noticed that there were things  _ inside  _ the helmet. “Huh?”

“Oh, I, um, got some of those candies you like, a mini sewing kit because I know you lost your other one, and this little, like, wood carving thing of a bear. 'M sorry that it's not much.”

Kiyotaka’s face broke into a grin and he reached into the helmet and took a caramel candy, unwrapping it and popping it in his mouth. He hummed happily and looked up at Mondo and Mondo thanked every God out there for this sight.

A sleepy, soft, happy Kiyotaka Ishimaru. He was so in love with this boy.   
  
Kiyotaka put his helmet down on the bed again and hugged Mondo once more. Mondo hugged back tighter this time, unable to control his own smile at his reaction. He felt relief wash over him, thankful that Kiyotaka liked his gifts. 

Things happened quickly once again. Kiyotaka pulled away, used a hand to tuck curls of bleached hair behind Mondo’s hair before leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss on his cheekbone. When he pulled back, Mondo lifted a hand, and put his own hand overtop of the kiss, face flaming up. Kiyotaka giggled softly and Mondo’s heart just  _ melted. _

Mondo didn’t know if he would be able to handle this kind of soft affection from Kiyotaka; the whole boyfriend situation was one thing but this was something else entirely. He knew that Kiyotaka was a touchy person and he  _ relished  _ in this fact, but his heart was weak and he was absolutely smitten. If this continued, he didn’t know how long he would be able to go without impulsively confessing his true feelings to Kiyotaka.

In order to move on and cover up everything he was feeling, Mondo laughed loud and harsh and stood up. “Al-Alright, okay, we have a busy day ahead of us! That I planned! So go get fuckin’ dressed!”

Kiyotaka jumped up and grabbed one of his many uniforms and left the room to go get changed in the bathroom and Mondo sank back down on his bed, burying his face in his hands.

Yeah, Mondo was definitely  _ fucked. _

***

One day, Kiyotaka got a bit more touchy with Mondo.

It had come as a slow incline of touches, an exponential growth, if you will (suck it, mathematics). Sometimes, they would stand together with Mondo’s arm swung around Kiyotaka’s shoulders and Kiyotaka’s arm swung around Mondo’s shoulder. Then, even that familiar stance is changed when Kiyotaka’s arm moves from around his shoulders to around his waist.

When they study, if Mondo was sitting on the bed, it is only a short amount of time before Kiyotaka moved from his place at the desk in order to go and sit on the bed as well, shifting to press the side of his body flush to the side of Mondo’s, reading and making notes out of his own textbook. Sometimes, he even slumped down a bit, breaking his perfect posture to put his cheek on Mondo’s shoulder. Mondo never questioned it, instead shifting to give him more room to do so and get comfortable.

When they ride on Mondo’s motorcycle, while Kiyotaka always held on tight, he somehow does so more now. He wraps his arms around him tight and squeeze, nuzzling his cheek on his back through the thick, clunky helmet. When they stopped, Kiyotaka didn’t let go immediately, instead holding for a few more seconds before pulling away.

Sometimes, when Kiyotaka stays in Mondo’s dorm, instead of obsessively cleaning every mess, he'll just cling onto Mondo. When Mondo is sitting at his desk, Kiyotaka will come over and hug him around and hug him around the back of the chair, chin resting on his shoulder. He’d still clean, but every now and then, he would take an occasional break to come up to Mondo, wherever he sat, and sit down next to him, leaning his weight on him.   
  
Mondo was seriously beginning to lose it.

When they walked in the hallways side by side, occasionally, Kiyotaka’s hand would brush against Mondo’s and Kiyotaka would take his hand in his own. He would hold his hand lightly, and Mondo wouldn’t strengthen the grip, too overwhelmed by the touch himself. A few seconds later, though, Kiyotaka would always squeeze his hand and Mondo would impulsively squeeze back. The grin that Mondo always got in response to that action made the weird stares of their peers all worth it.

When they wrestled (you know, boys being boys, and as two rather aggressive forces in nature, it was bound to happen), Mondo noticed Kiyotaka not fighting with nearly as much force as he had previously, which made pinning him so much easier. Everytime he got pinned, he'd send Mondo a small yet happy smile and Mondo would get so flustered he'd rip away and run from the room to cool off.

Mondo was losing it.

Kiyotaka had formed a habit of kissing Mondo on the cheek. He did it as a greeting, as a goodbye, and at random times. Having a sleep soft Kiyotaka place a hand on his chest over his restless heart and lay another on his shoulder for leverage as he raised on tip toe to peck his cheek was a different experience entirely. Mondo had never returned the gesture, not used to so much platonic affection, but that didn't mean that he didn't enthusiastically lean into the soft kisses.

Along with everything, Kiyotaka had not stopped calling Mondo his boy friend. Even though Mondo knew what he actually meant, he couldn't help but to just hope he meant it the actual implied way every time he said it. His heart was beginning to ache in a way less pleasant.

Mondo had lost it, and, without thinking much, began to pull away ever so slightly. He didn’t want to end up taking advantage of Kiyotaka's extreme kindness and platonic love and using it to justify his romantic desires.

But slowly, no matter how subtle he was, it seemed like something in Kiyotaka shifted too.

***

One day, Kiyotaka was the subject of conversation between Mondo and his brother.

It was a Monday morning and Mondo was seriously considering just skipping school. He hadn't in forever and he felt like shit. Plus, he didn't think he could take Kiyotaka sending those puppy dog eyes up at him one more time; he seriously thought he would end up kissing the air out of his lungs if he kept it up. Just to get a small break from Kiyotaka, he decided to spend that weekend home, lying through his teeth for a reason.

Mondo never noticed the way Kiyotaka’s smile wavered.

That morning, he sat at the rickety dining room table, stirring his spoon in his soggy cereal. His stomach felt weak, like another bite would make him sick, but he didn’t want to toss out the food. He couldn’t help but think about how upset Kiyotaka would be with him if he found out that he didn’t really eat breakfast. 

God. Mondo had seriously lost it.

As he grimaced after forcing down a spoonful of cereal, a sudden slam on the table made him jump and glare at the other occupant. His brother met his glare with a concerned look.

“A’ight,” Daiya started, leaning forward on his hand he had used to slam on the table. “What the  _ fuck _ is wrong with you?”   
  


“Huh?”

“Don’t ‘huh’ me. You’ve been starin’ off into space and always look like a fuckin’ kicked puppy. What happened?” Daiya’s face shifted into one of pity. “Something with you and that Taka kid?”

Mondo said nothing, hanging his head. He stirred more aggressively. Corn flakes soaked with milk seemingly dissolved.

“Ah.”

A short silence followed.

“Fuck ‘im then.”   
  


Mondo’s head shot up. His face blared red. “ _ What?!” _

“Whadda ya mean, what?!” Daiya responded, voice matching the volume. It took a second, but suddenly- “Oh,  _ no _ ,  _ not  _ like that! Didn’t he fucking break your heart or something?! Isn’t that why you’re sulking ‘round and shit?”

Mondo’s mouth opened and closed, at a loss for words. Daiya, of course, knew about his massive crush on Kiyotaka (pretty much anyone around the two of them for three seconds could tell just how head over heels Mondo was for the hall monitor), but he had no idea about the “boyfriend” situation. Therefore, Mondo explained to him, speaking fast and slurring his words as he recalled everything that happened these past few months (yes,  _ months _ ).

“Wow,” Daiya simply responded with.

“Y-yeah,” Mondo responded, in turn.

“I think the kid likes ya.”

“Ye-  _ HUH!?” _

“Mondo,” Daiya deadpanned. “All Taka does is study. I’m sure he knows what a fucking boyfriend is.”   
  


“He’s! He’s book smart, that don’t mean he has fucking common sense! I’m his first friend, bro, I’m sure he… I’m sure he doesn’t mean it that way. He’s just… affectionate.” Mondo finally got up and dumped out the remains of his cereal. He stared into the trash can for a few moments. “He doesn’t have a crush on me, and I… I don’ wanna take advantage of him and he just keeps doin’ this shit and… Daiya, I don’t know what to do.”

Mondo’s head hurt. All of this, the kisses, the touches, the affectionate terms and words and sugary tones were getting under his skin and pulling the rug out from underneath his feet. Kiyotaka Ishimaru was a storm that blew with reckless abandon and Mondo Oowada was a naive storm chaser who got caught in the winds. He didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what he  _ could  _ do, and… it was all too much.

He hung his head. In shame, in embarrassment, in heartbreak, he doesn’t know, and, for the first time in a while, Mondo’s vision went blurry with tears.

“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath, scrubbing at his eyes and rubbing his skin raw. At least he hadn’t done his eyeliner yet.

“Mondo,” Daiya said once more, voice softer. He came up and put a hand on Mondo’s shoulder, and, for the first time in a while, the Oowada brothers shared a hug in their kitchen.

Mondo skipped school that Monday.

Kiyotaka blew his phone up with worried texts and Mondo simply just shut off his phone. He’d handle it in person.

***

One day, Kiyotaka kissed Mondo.

Kiyotaka had been referring to Mondo as his boyfriend for about five and half months by that point. It hurt everytime he said that word, and it seemed like he caught on, because Mondo hadn’t heard that word for about a week or maybe even more now. Strangely, even though it hurt, he was still sad to see it go.

Kiyotaka had stopped touching him as much. Mondo never initiated touches anymore and it became rare for Kiyotaka to. He didn’t squeeze his hand when they held hands. It even seemed like the people around them started to get a weird vibe off of the two of them. Instead of spending all their time with each other, it was more common to see Mondo with Leon and Yasuhiro or with Chihiro and more common to see Kiyotaka with Naegi or with Asahina and Sakura.

On one of their very tense study nights, Mondo got up to leave at the end of the night just before nighttime started. He couldn’t help but think about how, a few months prior, he would have just shut his books and lay down on the bed, listen to Kiyotaka fuss about him sleeping in the clothes he wore to school, and then eventually lay down beside him in his stupid(ly cute) button up flannel pajamas and sleep.

When he had one hand on the doorknob, he felt Kiyotaka grip his sleeve and the phrase, “Mondo, wait!” slip from his lips. Mondo turned to look at him and was only given a second to meet Kiyotaka’s gaze before it all happened.

Kiyotaka had his lip caught between his teeth and Mondo found his gaze sliding down to stare at the action. Then, Kiyotaka released his sleeve and lunged forward, grabbing his collar and yanking him down, smashing their lips together. Their teeth clicked and Mondo tasted blood. Regardless, he couldn’t find the will to pull back or to kiss back and he just stared at Kiyotaka, wide eyed. After a moment, Kiyotaka pulled away, and tears gathered in his eyes. 

It was like a dam burst in Mondo.

“What the  _ fuck  _ is wrong with you?!” Mondo blurted out, pushing Kiyotaka back and leaning against the closed door. He ran his hands through his hair and effectively messed up his pompadour. His breathing was heavy and his face was flushed red and that metallic taste still swarmed his mouth as sadness and anger twisted inside him.

In front of him, Kiyotaka said nothing and stared. Then, he started to tremble. And then, he cried.

Sobbed. Heart wrenching sobs.

“T-Taka?” Mondo said, and reached out to him. Kiyotaka batted his hand out of the way and hugged himself, looking down, shoulders shaking. Mondo could tell he was trying to quiet himself down to no avail. “Taka, please, just talk to me, what the fuck was that, Taka, I-”

“Pl-please, Mondo, Oowada, just- just…  _ stop,” _ Taka borderline begged and Mondo obeyed. He held a hand up to his mouth and blinked rapidly, trying to blink away the tears crowding his own eyes. He had cried way too much lately.   
  


“Why’re you cryin’?”

Kiyotaka glared at him,  _ glared  _ at him. “Are you- are you serious?”

“ _ What?” _

“Oowada, I-” Oowada, ouch. Last name basis? “- I thought that… I thought that maybe you were losing interest because I wasn’t aggressive enough or something but just… you just don’t like me anymore and-”

“ _ WHAT?!” _

“ _ Please don’t yell at me!” _ Kiyotaka yelled, like a hypocrite, and took a few shaky steps back and tripped over his own feet. Mondo rushed forward and caught him, and then made very tense eye contact and Mondo righted him again. “See you just, you just do things like  _ that _ and make me think that you still like me but you won’t even meet my freaking eyes anymore! What did I do?”

“What did you- I-  _ huh?!”  _ Mondo was  _ bewildered _ . He had no idea what was even going on in this conversation.

“I’m always the one k… kissing you-” Oh, the way Kiyotaka blushed over that word was adorable-  _ focus,  _ Mondo! “- and initiating everything and now you always have an excuse to get out of going on dates with me and being around me and if… if you tell me that you want to break up I… I won’t be… I won’t be upset.”

Kiyotaka started sobbing again, contradicting himself. Mondo’s face was flaring red, both out of embarrassment and confusion, it seemed, not anger.

‘Break…  _ Break up?”  _ He could feel a yell building up in his throat despite Kiyotaka’s earlier request. 

Kiyotaka looked up at him and opened his mouth to speak but Mondo beat him to the chase.

“ _ Taka if I was lucky enough to date you, I’d  _ never _ break up with you!” _

Mondo put his hands over his mouth and stared at Kiyotaka wide eyed. Kiyotaka just stared back at him, and the confused look on his face made Mondo’s heart drop.

“Wh… what?”

“I’m… I’m fuckin’ in love with ya,  _ okay?! _ I wanna kiss you and hold your fucking hand and shit,  _ I don’t know _ , and I  _ know  _ you don’t feel the same and-”

“Are you joking because this  _ really  _ isn’t freaking funny.”

Mondo’s heart stuttered in his chest. Rejection had never tasted so bitter. “No, I’m not joking, I-”

“ _ Mondo!  _ Cut it out! I know you don’t like me anymore, not like  _ I  _ like you, so-”

In Mondo’s head, a puzzle piece clicked into place, and he cut Kiyotaka off.   
  


“Do you remember, a couple months back, when we went an’ saw your dad and you called me yer boyfriend over the phone and shit?” Kiyotaka blinked at him but then nodded. “Did ya… you meant it as  _ boyfriend _ ?”

“I… yes? We are-  _ we're  _ dating? Unless you-”

“Wait, so you didn’t mean it as ‘boy friend’?” Mondo mimed out the space and Kiyotaka squinted at him.

“Mondo, how… how stupid do you think I am?”

“ _ When did we start dating?!” _

Kiyotaka got defensive and started yelling back, tears forgotten. “About a week before that! I asked you if you wanted to go to the library with me and you said ‘sure, it’s a date’! Was I  _ not  _ supposed to think we were dating?!”

“Ishi, I-  _ that’s just a fucking expression!” _

“I-!” Kiyotaka seemed to deflate, face going confused. “Oh. Wait. So that does that mean we aren’t dating?”

_ “I would really fucking like to start dating you now!” _

Kiyotaka seemed to light up a little. “Really?”

“ _ Really!  _ I wasn’t fuckin’ pulling your leg when I said I love your dumb ass!”

Kiyotaka walked up to him and Mondo grew rapidly more flustered when he reached up to cup his face in his hands. “Really?”

Mondo felt like he was going to explode if he spoke anymore, so he bent down and kissed Kiyotaka with so much force that he sent the two of them toppling over. Mondo turned them over as they fell, landing on his back with Kiyotaka on his chest, and even as pain rippled through his body, he didn’t let up on the kissing. Kiyotaka didn’t seem to have a problem with that, kissing back with just as much, maybe even  _ more _ force.

Love drunk and kissed stupid, Mondo eventually had to pull back to breathe. Kiyotaka, perched on top of him, panted with his dorky huge grin on his face, and, for the first time in a while, Mondo grinned a toothy, happy grin to match.

***   
  
“Did you seriously think we were just friends this whole time?”

“I already said  _ yes!” _

“But I kept holding your hand! And sitting on your lap! And kissing your cheek!”

“I- I thought they were friend shit-”

“Language!”

“ _ Stuff. _ ”

“Mondo, I… I called you sweetheart and darling! You even called me babe sometimes!”

“You… you always got all stupidly happy when I did and I… I liked seeing you all giggly so…”

“Aww, Mondo-”

“ _ SHUT IT!” _


End file.
